


Their Sons

by sugarby



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-02 20:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10952472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarby/pseuds/sugarby
Summary: While the majority of Britannia is steadily accepting people from different walks of life, and the foreign and mixed-raced minority are still angry over past discrimination and hardship, two boys meet on their first day of high school and develop a bond akin to their fathers'.





	1. The Day A New Bond Was Born

**Author's Note:**

> Insp. by _Harry Potter and The Cursed Child_.
> 
> _*Ideally set about ten years after R2, but you don't need to remember everything that happened in that for this to make any sense._

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twelve year olds Xavier Lamperouge and Shun Kururugi's first meeting mirrors their fathers in the way they don't get off to the best of starts.

_Ashford Academy, Ground Floor Library  
Ages 12-13_

There were several parts written in to the thorough plan for today—the first day of High School, thought up by Xavier the night before. He scribbled items he'd definitely need and items he might need, he wrote comments on how to spend free time. He certainly thought of every necessity for multiple scenarios but winds up compromised, being cornered in a place of peace and escapism by goons who mean to lynch him as a way to assert their dominance.

Xavier voluntarily keeps himself pressed back to the wall. The exit routes are slim between the two other first years cornering him. They gave their names to him, Oswald and Aldrin, platinum-blond and fair blond, easy tan traces on their skin of their mixed ethnicity. Why they decided to give their names out is beyond Xavier but he reckons they'd make awful criminals in hiding in this regard. That's him, that's Xavier Lamperouge, with wit coming through in unfavorable circumstance. And how unfavorable his luck is—if he were to believe in such malarkey—that his should happen to him now. A couple years back, Britannians being mistreated was near unthinkable. Then a Britannian stepped up to abolish the discrimination, and sure it passed with enough supporters and now there's little to no restriction on schools, jobs and etc. that non-Britannians can get in to. But some felt it was only a condescending consolation, and today when they act out against it, not even Britannians are spare. No, it's more right to say _pure-blood_  Britannians get the worst of it.

Oswald grins and leans in—too close in Xavier's opinion, the way he turns his head saying everything. "So, as a Brit, I betcha think you're hot shit. That you're above us."

"I haven't said anything for you to believe that. You've come in here, after myself, and now you're harassing me over a matter neither of us had any say in. I'm waiting for the bell for form to ring, _you're the ones_ causing trouble."

Oswald and Aldrin are quiet, then they're cackling.

Xavier strongly dislikes being _laughed at_ , so his cheeks puff out a bit. Subtly, for too much will only be setting himself up for ridicule.

"In case you've been under a rock," says Aldrin, crossing his arms to look...knowledgeable, likely, "You Brits started a war with the rest of the world first."

"It's not like that was _my_ fa—"

Aldrin clicks his tongue, "An' you just walked in here but who said you could?!"

Xavier points to the door, to its sign which boldly reads ' _OPEN, WELCOME_ ', "That did, over there."

Oswald snatches the collar of Xaiver's uniform shirt and sneers, "If I were you, I'd quit actin' so damn smart. Wake up, Brit, your lot don't run things anymore."

"I never implied—" Xavier huffs, annoyed. He grabs the hand that's grabbing him and tries to pull it off. "Let go of me! Look, you're being beyond unreasonable!"

"Let's lynch him for all he's got." says Aldrin, expecting a Britannian school-boy's allowance—or pocket change even—to be _quadruple_ what he gets from his parents.

"Good idea." Oswald grins. "But first, let's give 'im a memento from us..."

Xavier sighs, because this predicament is troublesome, frowns, because he watches Oswald’s and would prefer not to be punched by this goon.

In from the conveniently open window on the opposite side of the room, a boy on a red bicycle shoots in and comes to a halt some feet from the group. Hardly analysing his whereabouts or noticing the other four, he lightly panics to himself over his tardiness. It's the first day of school and he has no idea where he's meant to be—no, he knows the place but not it's location. He looks around and finally spots the four students, "Oh, good, made it. Hey, you guys know where class 1A is? I missed the assembly so I don't—" Shun pauses, staring and realising he's arrived in the middle of an uncomfortable situation, with Xavier being pressed against the wall and two students crowding over him. Shun’s eyes expand, his lips quiver slightly, “Oh, geez, l-look...I’m not judging, okay? B-But you guys probably shouldn’t be...getting up to what you’re getting up to right here. In school.”

" _What_?!" Aldrin hisses.

Shun watches them, watches Xavier and his unimpressed face in particular, and tries to wager if they're in a relationship together or fighting for the Britannian's sole affection. He can't say he blames them. Though he's certain of his heterosexuality from the youthful age of twelve, Xavier isn't bad-looking. A little moody—emo, but definitely not at all unattractive.

Xavier raises his voice with a hand, "I'm in class 1A."

Oswald shoves him to the wall, "Be quiet!"

"We're showing him who's boss, idiot." Aldrin tells Shun, who earlier was quick to jump to the nearest conclusion in his imaginative mind—whatever it was, fortunately unknown to Aldrin. Aldrin inspects Shun and figures, "You don't look Britannian either. You oughta be with us."

"If I was, what would be so wrong with that?"

Oswald's eyes roll, "He's a Brit and Brits are the reason our families had a hard time or were killed."

"Him?" Shun nods at Xavier. "But he's just a kid, same as us."

"Shut up! Get lost before we do you next."

Shun sighs as he comes off his bike, setting it down gently and stepping over it. He walks over until he's in front of Oswald and Aldrin. They see it with their expanding eyes how he's taller than them. Some children have aggressive growth spurts and he's one of them. "This sucks. It's the first day of school but...oh well, I'll fight you if I have to." He cranes his neck back. _Crack_. He rolls back his shoulders. _Crack, crack_. He kneads his fists, ready. _Crrrack. Crrack. Crack_.

Aldrin scoffs, “You and what army?”

“Don’t need anyone else. I’m a one-man army, fellas."

“Yeah, right. Who the heck are you?”

“My name is Shun Kururugi.”

Oswald and Aldrin are instantly silenced, the surname striking something like realisation and fear in them and slowly rising to surface. They stare, frozen, at Shun. Seconds pass before they're all of a sudden bolting out of the library.

Xavier wonders if he should ask what happened and how it was managed. He's also irritated that the situation came down to him needing help, that he couldn't escape by himself with knowledge alone by out-smarting them somehow. He decides he wasn't given enough time to, that's all. He moves from the wall and starts smoothing out his uniform to its once well-ironed perfection.

“You’re welcome.” Shun says.

Xavier's eyes lift to him in a brief glance, "...Thanks, but you weren't obliged to assist me."

“I hear you say that you’re in class 1A too. That right?”

“Is that why you stepped in?”

“Nope,” Shun picks up his bike. “I thought it might be fun.”

“Fighting?”

“ _Fighting_.”

“That's a peculiar way to be entertained.” Xavier comments and Shun doesn't agree or disagree because _to each their own_. It’s not as if he goes seeking for opportunities to fight, but he doesn’t easily back down either. Something _thrilling_ in it calls to him and he likes it. “Who are you?”

"Like I told those guys, I’m Shun. Japanese."

"An Eleven?"

"No, _Japanese_."  
  
"I'm surprised you openly refer to yourself as Japanese. But you're right, that's what you are. I’m Xavier.”

"Hi, Xavier. So, those guys. What'd they want with you?"

"To blame one Britannian for what the rest did in the past."

"Meh, that kinda stuff goes over my head. I'll hang with anyone as long as they're decent. Even you."

"Well it's not like I _want_ us to become friends so don't misunderstand just because you're Japanese. I don't need friends, I'm fine by myself."

"What we need and what we want don't always align, you know."

"Meaning?"

Shun hops back on to his bike, one leg swinging over first but the other staying rooted to the ground for balance. "In clean and simple English, so _you_ don't _misunderstand_ _me_ , I'm saying it's okay if we're friends."

"You can't just decide that for yourself. By the way, going around the school like that," Xavier nods to the bike. "is probably going to get you in trouble."

"I can say the same about you. Deliberately not making friends is something you shouldn’t be doing.”

“I’ll consider the unwanted warning.”

“It wasn’t a..." Shun groans. " _Jeez_ , you’re uptight.”

Xavier quietly fumes inside, keeping much worse words than ‘goon’ in his head. He’s already the target of two nobodies, showing himself up with colourful vocabulary won’t do much to improve that in front of Shun. Not that Xavier particularly cares what Shun thinks of him anyway.

"1A, 1A..." Shun repeats to avoid forgetting and puts one foot down and starts peddling to the door. "See you there if I don’t get put in detention on the way."

"You will be!" Xavier hollers. “Don’t know why you rode in through a window anyway instead of using the school gates.”

Shun's laugh echoes back up the hallway alongside his answer, “‘Cause that’s no fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In terms of their appearances, Xavier is basically a dark haired, purple-eyed [Ikuya Kirishima](https://myanimelist.cdn-dena.com/images/characters/2/295064.jpg) and Shun is a green eyed [Natsuya Kirishima](https://myanimelist.cdn-dena.com/images/characters/12/306327.jpg).


	2. The Dinner Talk Awakens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon returning to their homes, their sons discuss their first day and thoughts on meeting each other.

In the Lamperouge household, it’s time for dinner. Served at six in the evening every day without failure, the only inconsistent factor being the meal itself—sometimes curry, sometimes meat with vegetables, always warm and from a good place. Still, though he tries, Lelouch is no Betty Crocker in the kitchen; he’s just decent enough that the looks from his impressionable son are passable for gracious, pleased. Xavier can easily be the type of child who throws platefuls of unwanted food across the dining room, demanding the Chef’s best. The type who throws a tantrum and blames it on their parent’s being incompetent.

Thankfully, Lelouch didn’t raise his only son to be like that. He raised him to be opinionated, outspoken. Honest. He turns around, a white apron tied to his waist, with two steaming plates in two hands and a hopeful smile on his otherwise worried face. “Alright, dinner is served.” He sets the plates down, presenting the curry meals he microwaved as instructed.

Xavier pulls a face at it but he also adds verbal thought. “Will Sayoko’s vacation last much longer?”

“At least try it first. And don't bother asking about leftovers she left for us, they won't last the entire month."

“So that’s how long I must involuntarily eat…” Xavier unhappily looks at his dinner. “Mediocre substitutions.”

“I’m sorry it isn't like Sayoko’s but I’ve tried to make it presentable enough.”

“I can tell.”

“ _Eat_. Before it gets cold.”

Xavier takes the first bite. The more bites he takes, the more he misses the housekeeper employed to do motherly tasks.

“How was it today? Your first day as an Ashford Academy student.”

Xavier has no plans to mention that he was the target of unfair mistreatment. “I suppose I felt nervous. I tried not to show it.”

Lelouch chuckles, “By refusing to show a natural reaction in the situation of starting a new school, you inevitably only focused attention on yourself.”

“And Headmistress Milly was as lively as you warned me she would be.”

“Please give her my love.”

“Relay an inappropriate message to my school’s Headmistress. Anything else?”

Lelouch chews while he rolls his eyes. Xavier never likes seeing his father do that. It’s snobbish. Now he’s thinking of the sort of point Oswald and Aldrin were getting at, albeit violently. What about your classes?”

“They're okay. Some people cried. They had friends for support and yet they still cried.”

“They've been placed in a new school. An entirely new world.”

“They were at least brought in by their parents...”

“I wanted to be there but the case I’m working on is an important one.”

“More important than your own son?”

“It involves keeping an innocent, Japanese man from being imprisoned.”

“To hell with me being your son then!" Xavier snaps. "I'm confident I would've enjoyed Mother's company more anyway. Not that you talk much about her."

"I promise you, since the last, seemingly-hundredth time you asked, the answer hasn't changed. Your mother remains the way she was, the way I described her. Well raised, well mannered, hopeful, ambitious, beautiful. There’s nothing else to say really.”

Xavier frowns. He puts food on his fork and eats quietly.

“What is it?” Lelouch asks, because the last thing he needs is more distance between them. “ _Xavier_.”  
  
“...You had someone else in your life you valued besides Mother, right?” 

“Yes. A best friend.” 

“What made them worthy of your friendship?"

“He was reliable. Had a good heart. He was loyal to me and also to the things he believed in. He was stubborn but patient. He never had a bad thought towards those who wanted to harm him. The thing that made him worthy of being called my friend, above all else, his drive to help others. He saved my sister."

“Aunt Nunnally?" Xavier asks with interest. He hasn't heard this before.

"She got lost one day and even though we didn’t like each other at the time, even though he heard unkind things about us and wasn't obligated to help, he found her for me."

Xavier gives his plate of food a long stare as if it holds answers about his focused thoughts. About the boy who helped him, Shun Kururugi.

Lelouch entwines his fingers for his chin to rest upon and tilts his head a little. “Do you understand, Xavier? A friend is someone you can rely on. Someone who goes out of their way—of their own free will—for you.”

 

**. . .**

 

In this apartment, which isn't as fancy as the other nor co-run by a housekeeper, there isn't a set time for dinner. It means to start at six—influence from a past—but the busy work-life of the father and the unplanned meal courses result in dinner starting just whenever father and son finally get time to sit together. And tonight they do indeed sit, beside each other on the only sofa in the living area, eating oriental food out of boxes with chopsticks. They look a cozy picture of a family, of father and son who look so similar and eat quite similar but are still Suzaku and Shun Kururugi.

“School alright today, Squirt?” Suzaku asks, breaking his chopsticks apart and giving his son the nickname designated from birth. (Contrary to now, Shun Kururugi was quite a small baby and quiet).

Shun groans over his chopsticks with food in their clasp, “ _Dad_ , I’m in High School now. You gotta quit callin’ me that now or my reputation won’t have a chance.”

“I promise, it’ll be better than mine was.”

“Oh. Right.” Shun swallows and tastes nothing. His sense of guilt overpowers it like a spice so strong it only burns. His dad’s Japanese background made him a target for many misdeeds. “...My bad.”

Suzaku smiles and ruffles his son’s curly locks. “So?”

“First I arrived a little late ‘cause I stopped to check a cat—”

“What? _Shun!_ ”

“Put your awful relationship with them aside for a moment, dad. She was having kittens!”

“Wh—what?!”

“Yeah. She was leading them someplace and I wanted to make sure they were all safe. I’m sweet, I know.” Shun grins and flexes an arm, showing moderate muscle. It’s not nearly as impressive, for a boy his age, as he’s pretending it is. “Heroic, right?”

“Shun, it’s nice to hear you wanted to help but being late for school isn't an option. Do you know how lucky you are?” He hears his son sigh beside him. “Shun, you can sigh all you want but when I was your age and even when I was a little older, education in Britannia was an opportunity for me. If I hadn’t...if a good friend wasn't looking out for me then, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“You would’ve _accepted_ it.” Shun says with a hardness to his tone, hinting at a deep distaste. “That’s what you do, right?” He feels his father’s eyes on him. Shun digs his chopsticks in to his box and shuffles the food around, “You accept things as bad as they are rather than believe they could be different. You let them bully you."

“I understood from their perspective. I was new and wrongly accused.”

“And  _Japanese_.”

Suzaku puts on a sympathetic tone,“...They were just scared, Son. It was never as personal as it seemed, trust me. Besides, when I didn’t fight back, someone else fought for me.”

“A bodyguard?”

Suzaku laughs, “No, I mean a friend. A good friend…” His eyes go up and he looks away in his thoughts, smiling a bit. “A _best_ friend.”

Shun’s face looks very focused, “I wouldn't mind knowing what’s so great about this guy if he’s your best friend.”

“Not much, honestly. He has a lot of bad qualities.” Suzaku admits, and so bluntly Shun double-takes. “He’s reserved and cold and can be deceitful. But he’s loyal, generous, caring. When I didn’t think we would be friends—that we even _could_ be, we were brought together and we’ve been close since.”

“Wow. Pretty lucky, dad.”

“Yeah. Why the interest, though?”

“These guys were messing with another guy and I stepped in to help, but the guy didn't seem grateful! Then he said he doesn't want friends after I offered to be his! And he was betting I’d get caught riding my bike in school and get detention! Dad, have I, your amazing son, made an enemy on my first day?”

“Well...maybe he’s...shy?”

“No.” Shun sets his food down so he can slump back and in to the couch with depressive appearance. “A guy who looks as cool as he does can't be shy. Girls talked about him in class. Well, about both of us ‘cause they heard there was a fight.” To his father’s scolding face at the ready, he swears that there wasn’t a fight but there could’ve been because he was all for it. Suzaku’s face stays as it is so Shun blatantly looks away, “So, anyway, I think most of the guys in our class don't like him but they wanna hang with me. But I think my being Japanese plays a part in that. He gets a lot of crap for being full Britannian, which sucks. But he doesn't seem to care and neither do I.”

“You know a lot about him already.”

Shun shrugs nonchalantly, “We introduced ourselves today in class, so…”

“You sure it’s not a crush?”

“He’s a _guy_!”

“That a yes?”  
  
“ _Dad_!” Shun shouts, face beet red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing the families at dinner, presenting their mannerisms and differences. I hope Suzaku and Shun come across as chilled and lax.


	3. Imprisoned in Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "H—" Lelouch's words are cut off, the reason being he hasn't figured out what to say. Nothing seems good enough. Nothing feels right. After all these years, bitting his lip harshly, he wonders what he can say. He clears his throat and starts simple. "It's me, Suzaku. I know this is out of the blue, trust me. I wasn't expecting to call you tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wanted to update this for ages but it never felt ready, so I've been editing and staring at this all this time between updating other works. I'm very sorry! But I've been working on other parts to this behind the scenes also, making changes and incorporating things so this can make a bit more sense (I hope).
> 
> Still bet there are typos or lines I missed editing out. Still naming the chapters after canon episodes. But no, I don't love CG too much. What is too much anyway? _*cue a philosophical-Lelouch lecture*_

After dinner, after the table is cleared and dishes are soaked and another try at encouraging his son to open up more about school ultimately fails, Lelouch has spare time on his hands for the remainder of the evening. It's a rarity these days, his career keeps him busy for long hours (sometimes starved too when the nights  _really_  drag on).

He runs a hand through his hair, anxious. Internally debating with himself on the same matter he has for the last decade. He expected that Xavier's return from his first day of high school would also bring talk of friends, school and the miscellaneous add-ons that come with it, but not the swelling emotions in his chest. The heartache  accompanying the memories from his own youthful time. It wasn't Ashford Academy itself that made his life particularly interesting from the usual routine of studying, sleeping and smiling through conversations he didn't have the energy for afterward.

It was Suzaku. In all fairness, being asked by his son what determines a friend—especially a good, best friend—is a question that can't be answered without reflexively leading to all his days spent with him.

Ten years is a long time. Too long.

 _It's enough_ , Lelouch decides, and after all these years, dials the number he knows off by heart despite not having called it in so long. Had he been told he'd be doing this tonight, he wouldn't have believed it. His well calculated plans and multiple secondary-schemes would've laughed as well, finding no schedule for this anywhere. No, he's always been cowardly. Time hasn't completely removed that trait from him. It's been kinder, patient, and given him the opportunity to have a son who could do with a decent parental figure.

_"Hello?"_

"H—" Lelouch's words are cut off, the reason being he hasn't figured out what to say. Nothing seems good enough. Nothing feels right. After all these years, bitting his lip harshly, he wonders what he can say. He clears his throat and starts simple. "It's me, Suzaku. I know this is out of the blue, trust me. I wasn't expecting to call you tonight."

_"Trust you? I think I know better than that."_

That stings but Lelouch knows he's deserving of that at the very least. "It seemed like a good time to check in with you. It's been...a long time."

"Seven years before. Now you've outdone yourself."

"I was afraid we were still fighting."

_"You protected your a murderer. Euphy's murderer."_

"I wasn't protecting him!" Lelouch snaps before he can stop himself. He glances back to Xavier still on his handheld console and none-the-wiser to his outburst. If he gets involved, it'll be one more person to explain himself too.

As a lawyer, he chose to represent the man who was caught on film shooting his sister through the chest because, to this day, he still believes he was  _coerced_ by the real culprit pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Aside from discrimination and his dysfunctional family, Lelouch's greatest hatred is for the wrongly accused and innocent being punished. The one behind it all is Julius Kinglsey, the man orchestrating terroristic acts with an ingenious intellect scarily similar to Lelouch. They happen to look alike too, unfortunately, but with Julius wearing a black eyepatch decorated in the style of his military-like uniform. Lelouch isn't directly 'protecting' him so much as he's trying to save a citizen he came in contact with just before the incident. He can apologise as many times as Suzaku will let him but apologies won't bring the dead back to life. Lelouch took the case in her honour to get justice, to tell the jury that even though the guy was caught with the gun and Euphemia’s blood on his hands, Julius Kingsley worked from the shadows. That man has a supernatural way of bending the will of people to his selfish desires.

"I believe the man who murdered her was compelled—"

Suzaku scoffs, tired because he's heard this all before,  _"So it's magic that killed her."_

"Magic isn't real. I'm insisting it's a type of trick he's able to use. I can tell, though, you're no closer to believing me."

_"I believe you believe that, at least. And I’ve mourned enough and know you did what you thought was right. We both loved her and I know you, Lelouch. I know you wouldn’t have lived with yourself knowing you didn’t help save someone you thought needed it rather than pay for something they didn’t do.”_

“Thank you.”

Suzaku speaks in a softer tone,  _"Just hearing your voice is a blast from the past. I remember being placed in your school, in your class, and how surprised we both were.”_

“Yeah. Of all the schools in Britannia, mine gets stuck with the likes of you.”

_“You were just jealous because people talked more about me and less about you. Speaking of school, Shun started at Ashford Academy today.”_

Lelouch  leans against the wall to suit the comfortable conversation, “You’re kidding.”

_“I know, right? Time flies much faster than I remember.”_

Lelouch thinks time couldn’t possibly pass much faster for being regularly mistreated. He swallows his irritation down, “What’s his verdict then? Is there a court-case in my future where a son wants to be emancipated from his father for high-school trauma in less than forty-eight hours of attending?”

_“I think he likes it, actually. Sounds like he can’t wait to go back. He was really impressed by another kid today, and asked me what makes someone a really good friend. Guess he’s found someone he can hang with. Least I hope.”_

“I’m curious to know the criteria one has to meet for you to consider them to be a ‘good friend’.”

_“An exiled prince with a cold attitude and a family-vendetta usually does it.”_

“Well you're in luck.”

Suzaku laughs. Then he realises,  _“Hold on, it was Xavier’s first day too, right? If he’s like you, I’m sure he’s made a lot of friends.”_

Lelouch’s popularity, from what Suzaku recalls, was an oddity. He attracted people with his looks, his intelligence, the confidence and grace he strutted around the campus with, and somehow the cold attitude he gave off beckoned a lot of girls in. But at the same time, he wasn’t easily likeable because of it; most people liked to steer clear of him, too, save themselves the trouble of being scolded or grammatically-corrected by the Britannian who obviously placed himself on a pedestal far above the people he attended school with. No one could’ve ever traced that behaviour back to his bloodline—to the teachings and mannerisms bestowed upon royals that, while he’d rather be without, couldn’t break away from like a habit. But even with Suzaku as the sole person aware of this secret, he could never blame Lelouch’s behaviour on anything other than it just being who he is. If there’s a chance that his son has developed a similar, if not identical, attitude, who can say how his time in school in this day and age will go

Lelouch looks back over his shoulder at his son on the couch with his handheld console, a book neglected at the first few pages beside him. "In a way, he’s more or less just as complex. If something's wrong, he won't tell me easily. And if he truly is like me then he won’t go out of his way to make acquaintances or anything, he'll keep his distance.”

_“Even if he does want friends, it probably won’t be easy. Shun saw a kid being bullied for being fully Britannian and now I think it might've been Xavier. I'm sorry."_

Lelouch grips his phone tightly, disturbed by the reality. “I can’t say I’m surprised. I was naive thinking my son would walk an easy path in High School. The world has changed.”

_“I’m sure they started the same school at the same time for a reason.”_

“Their birthdays align.”

 _“Feels like there's more to it to though. I don't know, fate or something."_  Suzaku doesn't know exactly what to call this occurrence but it's too coincidental. Two boys meet for the first time and their fathers happened to be childhood friends.

Lelouch hums, somewhat agreeable, “I don’t believe in things that can’t be proven with logic but...if I were a different man, I’d be agree with you.”

Neither they nor their sons would've known at this time, but it was the hands of something much stronger than fate pulling their sons together to form a bond much akin to their father's back in the day. 

 

***   ***

 

_Ages 16-17_

 

Casually eating their lunches out on the academy’s courtyard, neither have any idea of what’s transpired on this very rooftop. The conversations that helped spur on big decisions, the promises made. And it doesn’t matter; they've been making their own, and have plenty of youth left to make many more. Their first, proper introduction--with their fathers behind them in support—was rocky. But Shun took Xavier's hand, pulled him along in to the academy, and they haven't looked back.

Xavier completely winds down in the Summer. The always buttoned up shirt is unbuttoned at the top three, just revealing firm collar bones. He’s tilting his head back to chug down soft drink cans one after the other, and he's forgone his blazer to leave on the grass.

Shun swallows his bit of sandwich and says, "It’s not healthy to drink all that stuff.”

“Don’t start.”  Xavier groans, “It’s this impossible heat!”

“Xavier Lamperouge calling something existing ‘impossible’? You must have it bad. Hey, if an emotion had a physical form, what do you think it'd look like?"

"Did you really just change the subject that fast?"

Shun laughs, "Yep!"

"Has the sun already fried your brain?”

"Apparently our dads talked about it before—you know, ‘cause they were totally bffs—and my dad said happiness would be glass." Shun takes the bite, asks while still chewing, "Wanna know what I think?” Xavier mutters ‘no’ but regardless, Shun swallows then says, “I think happiness is like fizzy soda. It fizzes and bubbles excitedly, then it eventually dies down."

"So that's what commercials are selling these days."

"It sounds crazy but I must be pretty close!"

"This 'mark' of depicting an emotion as a physical embodiment has been instigated solely by you, no one else is partaking."

"Come on, you think I don't know you want to try for a better answer than  _soda_? Aunt C.C. would say it's Pizza."

"That woman is  _not_  our aunt."

"She kinda is."

"Not in the slightest." Xavier will continue to fight with him on this until his best friend sees the truth and understands that the woman who continues to show-up at his home and fluster his father with teasings, who has also lived far too long on this earth than most will ever wager, is not any kind of relative of theirs. That would be embarrassing. No, at the most, she's just a familiar acquaintance of their fathers.

"Hey, Kururugi, Lamperouge!" they're hollered at from not too far by neighbouring classmate, Gerard, the academy's popular student and captain of one of their sports teams. He resembles his face a lot with his blond hair, blue eyes, similar build and charismatic vibe, but also resembles his Japanese mother with her notably soft features of his face. "We're going out for lunch at the Pizzeria in town. You in?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks!" Shun waves at them with gratitude. He can really go for pizza at any given time, especially if it's the alternative to the regular gruel served in Ashford Academy. It's not awful to the point of being inedible but it doesn't beat classic, greasy pizza with the cheesy all stringy and thick. Shun licks his lips because the image in his head is so detailed, it's like he has a slice right now in his hands. "Xavier, you coming?"

"I'll pass. You can go on ahead. I'll be fine."

Shun nudges him, asks in a hushed tone so the guys waiting for him can't listen in, "Hey. what's up?"

Xavier moves his hand away, staring at Shun like he inflicted a cold burn upon his skin. "Excuse me for not wanting to eat junk food with a bunch of goons."

"They’re not all bad. Gerard's funny."

"That's an overused adjective to deceive others from realising he's actually shallow inside." Xavier says about the stereotypical but relevant ideology of Gerard Weinberg. On a sports team, always laughing in class, always surrounded by a group like he can't function independently, and doing unnecessary things as if to raise his popularity with validation from others.

"Wow, Xavier. You sound like your dad."

Xavier's eyes harden, that statement striking a very sensitive nerve. "They're just not my type of crowd."

"Crowds aren't your type of crowd." Shun says matter of factly because his best friend is reclusive and introverted, whether he openly admits to it or not instead of using the excuse that he just likes to read. When the bell rings at the end of the day, Xavier goes straight home. He'll go straight home again without having mixed with their peers again if Shun doesn't persuade him to accept this invitation. "Xavier, the  _loner ac_ t's cool and all in the movies—"

"We don't have to do  _everything_  together!"

Shun knows, he just doesn't want him to be excluded. To feel lonely. "Listen, when our dads were at school together, yours was popular." ironically so considering he valued his own company. "But my dad? Being Japanese didn't give him many options to make friends. Our dads were lucky to have each other."

Xavier reminds him, "Our dads used to hate each other."

"That’s irrelevant.  _You_  wanted little to do with me in the beginning."

"Can you blame me? You rode your bike through a window like a Goon."

Shun grimaces, "You gotta stop calling people that, you sound old." 

Gerard cups his hands around his mouth to holler again, "Hey, Shun, let's go! If Xavier's not coming then that's more pizza for us! Right?!"

"Come on." Shun tugs on his arm.

Xavier lets himself be pulled to the side a bit, considering, "Well Sayoko’s still on her vacation..." He starts to hear the bunch talk among themselves, trying but failing to whisper, unintentionally but successfully making Xavier feel more justified in thinking harshly of them.

"Hey, isn't that guy Lelouch Lamperouge's kid?" Someone in the group asks. "That lawyer who defends terrorists?"

"I think he supports the one behind all the attacks." Another adds, and soon others start talking among themselves as if he isn't even there to hear it all.

"Bet Lamperouge over there thinks he's better than us half-breeds."

"We didn't have to invite him to get pizza with us! Gerald said to for Shun!"

Gerard himself sighs at the gossip going on behind him and rolls his eyes, "Guys, stop."

"He's a Britannian and they don't like to mix with halves or anything 'cause they think we're  _beneath_  them!"

Gerard lifts a hand to his face and sighs again, "Were you asleep these past ten years? If that was true then Headmistress Milly wouldn't even allow us to be here. C'mon, things are different. Anyway, I'm hungry."

Shun watches his best friend's body shake. How his nimble, gentle fingers are gripping his leg so tightly. "...You guys go on without me."

Gerard smiles sympathetically, "Some other time then." He directs the same smile to Xavier on behalf of the group, which only seems superficial to him. Xavier turns away in a huff. Gerard doesn't take offence, very familiar with getting the cold treatment from him. Gerard waves and moves along, "See you guys later."

Shun waves back, "See ya, and thanks again!"

Xavier frowns, "You didn't have to do that."

"What are you talking about? We were in the middle of a conversation. It's your turn to tell me what you think happiness would look like physically."

It's obviously more than that, but it's relieving to know Shun won't just drop him. Not for greasiest pizza and popular Gerard Weinberg. Eyes keenly watching his best friend tuck in to a thick slice of pizza, he says, "We were discussing happiness. If it could be given a physical form.” and when Shun tells him to go ahead, smile so great his cheese-smudging teeth show, Xavier knows exactly what happiness might look like physically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually not keen on OC fics but ever since I thought of writing this, I've wanted to—and still want to—write everything I have out entirely. I appreciate if this is read, even more so if it's actually liked!
> 
> Lelouch 'defending' Euphy's killer isn't necessarily dismissing the canon likelihood of him killing that person himself, it's just what I settled with because I like to think Lelouch learns to be more compassionate years later. This is an alternate timeline after all..
> 
> _***** Gerard, like his father, is that guy who's enthusiastic and really keen to an annoying degree that you don't want around but he's too nice to outright hate for a genuine reason. (Gerard apparently means 'brave, spear, hard' which seems fitting._
> 
> I was going to write Xavier and Shun as they grew up but I think it's better if I keep them at 16-17. (Is it a bit odd how I've imagined their sons now that the third season of Free! has recently started? Kind of, yeah. Will I change that? No, 'cause it's stuck now). ~~and I love Free! so wth am I meant to do, help~~


End file.
